2010 Alonzo Award winners announced The Downtown San Diego Partnership announced the recipients of its 48th Annual Alonzo Awards, which honors people, projects and programs that have helped revitalize or renew the downtown region in the past year. This year, the Alonzo Awards recognizes James Dawe, recipient of the Founders Award; St. Vincent De Paul, recipient of the Humanitarian Award; San Diego Convention Center, recipient of the Sustainable Business Practices Award; and San Diego Symphony, recipient of the Distinguished Alonzo. Other Alonzo Award-winners include Channel 4 San Diego, Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savich LLP, San Diego Library Foundation, Ten Fifty B Street and the San Diego Chargers. The recipients of the awards will be honored at a dinner gala sponsored by Turner Construction, KHS&S Contractors, and Tucker Sadler Architects at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront hotel on Nov. 3 at 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.downtownsandiego.org, call Sheri Snead at (619) 234-0201 or e-mail [email protected]. Comic-Con renews contract in San Diego The San Diego Convention Center Corporation (SDCCC) announced that Comic-con International has renewed its contract in San Diego through 2015. The largest comic book and popular arts convention in the world has made its home in San Diego for 40 years and is the Convention Center’s largest and most profitable event of the year, bringing the city $162.8 million in indirect revenue last fiscal year. Organizers of Comic-Con turned down bids from larger venues in Anaheim and Los Angeles, in part due to a joint coalition by Mayor Jerry Sanders, San Diego Convention Center Corporation officials, local hoteliers and business and community leaders launching an intensive effort to keep the lucrative convention in San Diego. City and hospitality leaders committed to resolve Comic-Con organizers’ primary concern — the lack of adequate accommodation for its more than 130,000 attendees — by ramping up its efforts to expand the Convention Center along six acres of bayfront land adjacent to the current facility and offering expanded hotel room blocks and discounted rooms. An economic impact study, commissioned by the SDCCC, revealed that Comic-Con’s contract renewal in San Diego is expected to bring the city a cumulative $488.4 million in indirect revenue over the next three years. Port of San Diego president resigns Charles D. Wurster, president and CEO of the Port of San Diego, announced his resignation from the position on Sept. 24. Wurster served 37 years in the Coast Guard before retiring as commander and accepting the position as president of the agency in January 2009. During his tenure, he initiated a strict Port budget plan and led the staff on negotiations and plans for high-profile, inter-agency projects including the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan and the proposed expansion of the San Diego Convention Center. Wurster cited that it was “time to move on” in a memo to Port employees. Port Commission Chairman Robert Vaderrama announced his gratitude to the former President of the agency for getting the Port through a tough budgetary cycle and wished him the best in his future endeavors. The appointment of Vice President of the Administration, Wayne Darbeau, as interim President and CEO of the agency was announced Oct. 5. Darbeau has worked with the agency for 12 years, serving in many leadership roles including senior director, director and vice president. He will remain on the job until a nationwide search for a new CEO is complete. Downtown Partnership welcomes chief justice The Downtown San Diego Partnership (DSDP) will welcome California Chief Justice Ronald George as a special guest to its breakfast on Monday, Oct. 18 at the Westgate Hotel. Chief Justice George was appointed in 1991 to the Supreme Court of California by Governor Pete Wilson. He was elected in 1994 to a full term and later appointed as 27th chief justice of California in 1996. After a 38-year career in the state court system, Chief Justice George has announced that he will retire in January 2011. The breakfast will be sponsored by Higgs, Fletcher & Mack LLP, and Torrey Pines Bank. Check-in begins at 7:30 a.m. and the breakfast begins at 8 a.m. Tickets are $30 for members and $35 for non-members. To RSVP or for information on premier table prices, call Sheri Snead at (619) 234-0201 or e-mail [email protected]. Center renamed to honor Sheila Hardin The Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC) renamed its Downtown Information Center in honor of former Community Relations Manager Sheila R. Hardin, who passed away this April. In honor of Hardin’s dedication to CCDC and the improvement of downtown San Diego, CCDC held a celebration at the center located in Westfield Horton Plaza on Sept. 23. The celebration included a tribute to the long-time employee of CCDC and an unveiling of the information center, followed by a reception. Hardin worked for CCDC as a volunteer for two years and a full-time employee for 21 yeas. She served as community relations manager and was highly active in the development and management of the annual San Diego Multicultural Festival and Downtown Information Center until she lost her battle with cancer this year. Hardin was described by CCDC employees as a “San Diego enthusiast and a truly inspirational person.” Traffic signals installed at busy intersections Major intersections in downtown San Diego are now safer for drivers and pedestrians, thanks to the completed installation of six new traffic signals. The Centre City Development Corporation (CCDC), working on behalf of the San Diego Redevelopment Agency, installed these new crossings in response to public demands for improved vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and concerns about safety at major intersections downtown. The new traffic signals are located at Market and Union streets; Market Street and Third Avenue; Market Street and Ninth Avenue; Park Boulevard and Island Avenue, Park Boulevard and J Street; and Front and Cedar streets in the Cortez, Marina and East Village neighborhoods. The total project cost $1.25 million and was funded through property taxes and a SANDAG TransNet grant. Prehistoric whale fossil unearthed at Zoo A construction worker at the San Diego Zoo hit something strange with his excavator while digging for a storm water tank on Thursday, Sept. 16. The scraping sound indicated that the worker hit a solid object in the fine grain sand that he was excavating. San Diego Natural History Museum paleontologist Gina Calvano was on site during the excavation and discovered that what the worker had hit was actually a bone. Not just any bone, it was a 3 million-year-old, 24-foot-long whale fossil. The whale skull and vertebrae appeared to be well-preserved. The fossil will be brushed, boxed and relocated to the museum’s laboratory for closer inspection. WTCSD receives multi-year grant The International Trade Administration (ITA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce granted the World Trade Center San Diego (WTCSD) the Market Development Cooperator Program award (MDCP), a multi-year grant to encourage the use of U.S. technology for water projects in the Middle East, North Africa and India. WTCSD will receive more than $141,000 each year for the next three years to host workshops, trade missions, counseling sessions and webinars to help countries develop sustainable water management solutions. The ITA will work with the WTCSD to stimulate the growth of U.S. jobs in the engineering, construction, equipment supply, operations management and finance sectors by developing work relationships in interested countries and matching U.S. companies with international buyers. The ITA estimates that the WTCSD, through its $425,000 MDCP grant, will generate $27 million in export sales that will create jobs in the U.S. in the next three years.